Salimbangon wants 4th district declared tourist, econ zone

CEBU, Philippines - Representative Benhur Salimbangon is asking the Provincial Board to endorse his bills seeking the declaration of the fourth district as a tourist destination and an economic zone in northern Cebu.

The bills are now pending before the House Committee on Tourism and Economic Affairs.

“I hope the PB will endorse the declaration of fourth district as a tourist destination, at the same time an economic zone,” Salimbangon said in the Provincial Development Council meeting held recently at the Capitol.

Salimbangon said the district is fortunate to have about 22,000 hectares of flat lands viable for development.

Part of the plan is to have an alternate airport in Daanbantayan town or in Medellin, he said.

Salimbangon also filed a bill for the construction of an airport as an alternate to Mactan Cebu International Airport in Daanbantayan. It is now pending before the House Committee on Transportation.

The Province of Cebu is eyeing the Bantayan (Sta. Fe) Airport to be developed soon.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia recently met the lot owners affected by the development of the airport in Sta. Fe.

Garcia explained that she wanted to develop the airport to help Bantayan Island, more specifically the municipality of Santa Fe, with the increasing volume of tourists who visit the island.

During the meeting, lot owners expressed willingness to sell their properties to the Provincial Government to help in the progress of the proposed development.

Salimbangon assured the full support and cooperation to the programs and projects of the provincial government for the good of his district.

“Hopefully, this will boost also my effort nga matuman unta ang akong pangandoy nga ang fourth district will become an economic zone,” Salimbangon said.

Garcia hopes that if everything goes well as planned, the repair of the airstrip will start in the first trimester of 2012.

A 12-seater commercial airline, the Mid-Sea Express, used to have daily flights there but it stopped operating because the land where the runway was located was found to be unsuitable. — (FREEMAN)